1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fertilizer and method, and more particularly, to a fertilizer and method of reacting various types of organic material with certain soluble salt forms of chemical fertilizers to produce a humic acid based fertilizer formulated for specific plant and soil requirements and tailored to have both slow and rapid release characteristics to fit specific plant feeding requirements.
2. Prior Art
Waste organic materials are organic materials discarded as waste from various sources including agriculture, agroindustrial processing as well as manures from animals and humans. Organic materials until approximately the turn of the century were used extensively as a primary nitrogen source for fertilizers. Today, however, such material represents a small fraction of the total fertilizer market, as most organic wastes are low in nitrogen as compared to chemical fertilizers, are difficult to process and handle, and may involve disagreeable odor problems.
It is well known that plant growth depends on a relatively shallow layer of top soil. It is also well known that an organic fertilizer material, or humus, will enhance the retention and storage of water in this layer of soil, and, in addition, will improve soil texture. Importantly, humus creates a soft, friable soil which allows penetration of air and water into the root zone of plants therein and will also support large populations of beneficial soil organisms. Where plant production is to some degree dependent upon a soft friable soil that is obtained through the incorporation of organic material therein, they also require inorganic mineral nutrients for suitable growth. These mineral nutrients are removed from the soil both by crop production as well as through leaching and erosion. Therefore, to provide desirable chemicals to a humic acid fertilizer has required a mixing of the organic materials with an inorganic fertilizer. This has been largely unsatisfactory due to the difficulties inherent in providing an effective molecular bonding of the organic materials with inorganic chemicals mixed therewith, costs and handling difficulties and so, to a large extent, regardless of their benefits, organic based fertilizers are generally not used commercially.
In view of the foregoing, it would, therefore be a significant advancement in the art to provide a fertilizer and method for producing a fertilizer from an available organic material, that, after analysis of the makeup thereof can be combined with select inorganic minerals and other plant nutrients, as required, in a form to produce a humic acid based fertilizer that has a desired nutrient makeup for a specific crop need and/or soil makeup. It would also be an advancement in the art to provide a fertilizer and method whereby large dumps of waste organic material can be suitably utilized in combination with inorganic chemicals and plant nutrients to provide a fertilizer that is easily handled, relatively order free, can be granulated or used as a liquid slurry, and is readily suitable for numerous applications, both for large scale agriculture and individual use by a homeowner. Such a novel fertilizer and process is disclosed and claimed herein.
Combining a treated organic waste with inorganic minerals to form a useful fertilizer is, of course, not new and an example of such application is shown in a patent by Wilson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,383. Like the present process, this treatment involves mixing of both an acid and base with an organic material sufficient to produce a granular product. However, the acid and base are simultaneously mixed together with the organic material in this process and therefore will not produce a hydrolysis of the mix or a desirable molecular interaction. Whereas the present process calls first for an introduction and mixing of the organic material with either an acid or base, dependent upon the organic material makeup, and thereafter introducing an opposite material, either a base or an acid, and mixing the materials together, which steps are practiced in a closed vessel. Further, unique from the Wilson patent, the present process to produce a desired end fertilizer makeup provides for first analyzing the organic material to determine its inorganic chemical makeup and then selecting appropriately the particular acid and base and additive inorganic chemicals so as to produce a fertilizer suitable for use with a particular crop and/or a soil makeup.
Earlier processes for combining different organic wastes with inorganic elements may include a pH adjustment of the mix to provide a usable fertilizer are shown in patents by: O'Neill, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,450; Trocino, U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,446; and O'Donnell, U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,970. Such processes, however, unlike the present process, are limited to a particular organic waste; do not involve a selection of additives to compliment the chemical makeup of the particular organic waste selected so as to produce a fertilizer having a specific chemical composition and properties that are suitable for a select crop and soil; and do not involve the specific sequential steps involved in producing such a humic acid fertilizer.